Published: October 07, 2009 07:43 am      

H1N1: Help’s on the way

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Officials at the Suwannee County Health Department say vaccines for the H1N1 flu are expected to be available for residents in Suwannee County sometime this week.

Exact dates are not available.

The vaccine, which will be offered in one of two forms -- intranasal and, more commonly, by injection -- will be given first to those who fall into priority groups, followed by members of the general public, said Pamela Blackmon, administrator of the Suwannee County Health Department.

"All vaccines offered through the health department will be free of charge," she said. "We will make the vaccines available to our high risk groups first."

Priority groups include: pregnant women, healthcare providers, household contacts of infants less than 6 months of age, children and young adults from ages 6 months to 24 years old, and people ages 25 to 64 with underlying medical conditions.

The weekly allocation of dosages made available to the health department may vary, Blackmon said.

The health department will set up points of dispersion (P.O.D.) around the county to aide in getting vaccination shots to members of the public, said Nursing Director Wanda Crowe, of the health department.

P.O.D. locations where vaccines will be administered include: the Suwannee County Health Department located on Nobles Ferry Road in Live Oak, all county schools, Exhibition Hall II at the Suwannee County Coliseum, Hatch Park in Branford, the Advent Christian Village, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and Wellborn Baptist Church.

Individuals 10 years or older will only be required one dose of the H1N1 vaccine. Children ages 9 or younger are required to be administered a second dose, so health officials will make a second trip into local elementary schools 21 to 28 days after the first treatment. The nasal vaccine is only recommended for healthy and non-pregnant individuals ages 2 to 49.

"Immunity develops 8 to 10 days after a person receives the vaccines," Crowe said.

Infants younger than 6 months old are not allowed to receive vaccination treatment. Therefore, health department officials recommend that all caregivers and those who work closely with infants receive the vaccine.

As previously reported, 90 percent of flu cases that have occurred lately are considered H1N1, as opposed to seasonal flu. Most cases have occurred within people below age 24. The state stopped counting individual cases on July 29 as national numbers rose to an estimated 60,000. By late September, 102 deaths were attributed to H1N1, according to national health records.

"Most doctors are diagnosing H1N1 by symptoms, rather than with test swabs, except for in cases where individuals are already hospitalized," Blackmon said.

Symptoms may include fevers, coughing, sore throats, runny nose, body aches, chills, fatigue, headache, vomiting and diarrhea.

In Suwannee County, there have been 10 confirmed cases of H1N1, according to local health records.

Blackmon recommends that people develop a habit of keeping their hands sanitized and learn to cover their coughs by coughing into their sleeve. The H1N1 germ can live on surfaces between two to eight hours, she said.

If a person is sick with the flu, she said, only one person should act as a caregiver so that the illness is not further spread.

"A person should only return to work or school after they have been without fever or without medication for 24 hours and show no further symptoms," Blackmon said.

If anyone thinks they have H1N1, they should contact their doctor immediately, she said.

"We know that we cannot stop H1N1, but our purpose is to alert people, not to scare them."